Named after SS Taiyuan (2269 tons) of the Australian Oriental Line Ltd on the Melbourne-Darwin-Hong Kong run from 1912 to 1925. When war was declared on 4 August 1914, there were no enlistment camps in the Northern Territory. In October 1914, a petition signed by 24 Darwin volunteers to secure enlistments in one of the earliest contingents leaving Australia was initially denied. By late February 1915, those from the Northern Territory wishing to enlist were instructed to 'head south'. Eleven recruits boarded the SS Taiyuan on 4 March 1915 bound for Melbourne to enlist for service in WWI.